There have been many types of earrings for decorating the ear of the user. For example, reference may be made to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 20,480; 2,040,083; 2,542,743; 2,764,000; 4,704,878; and 4,724,684.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 20,480, 2,040,083, 2,642,730, and 2,764,000 all disclose earrings having opposing members that are urged towards one another, wherein the earring is secured on the ear by squeezing a portion of the ear therebetween. U.S. Pat. No. 20,480 discloses an earring having a pair of wires biased towards one another by a spring. The wire members may be moved apart from one another to enable the earring to be placed on the ear. Once on the ear, the spring is permitted to urge the two wires towards one another to squeeze an ear portion therebetween.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,040,083, 2,542,730, and 2,764,000 each disclose an earring having an engaging member for engaging the pinna from the front of the ear, and an opposing set screw member for engaging the pinna from the rear to adjustably pinch the ear between the set screw member and the engaging member.
While such earrings may have been satisfactory for securing the earrings to the ear of the wearer, the pinching of the ear by the earring was uncomfortable for the wearer. The discomfort was particularly acute when the earrings were worn for a substantial length of time.
Earrings which may be worn on an ear without pinching the ear are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,704,878 and 4,724,684. Disclosed therein are earrings having an open loop member with mounting members at both ends thereof. The open loop member was curved to position the mounting members at specific angles relative to one another and on opposite sides of the ear, wherein one of the mounting members could be disposed inside of the ear while the other mounting member was disposed on the back outer portion of the ear when the earring was in place. The curvature of the open loop member combined with the placement of the mounting members enabled the earrings to be worn without pinching the ear and causing discomfort.
Although such earrings facilitated the wearing of the earrings without pinching the ears and causing discomfort, the earrings were subject to swaying away from the head of the wearer when the head was moved or tilted. As a result, the earrings were subject to being displaced from the ear, and were thus susceptible to being dislodged from the ear and lost.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved ear decoration, which can be readily and comfortably worn on an ear. Such an earring should be resistant to dislodgment from the ear while being worn, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.